Greenwater Report for October 29, 2001

The Greenwater Report for October 29, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, October 29, 2001 - by: Jerry Crawford

Perigord
October 28th, 2001: We just got home from the Fall Supper at Perigord. As usual, the meal was sumptuous, the timing perfect, and the company congenial. Father LaCasse didn’t even suggest that I was just about ready for market! I say the timing was perfect because we got there just as the first wave of diners was leaving. By the time we were seated, the lineup was over, and we were able to sit and visit as long as we wished.

weather
The forecasters were right — they told us the temperature would reach the double digits by the weekend, and sure enough, Friday morning it was —16°! Not really too bad, though. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the sun was shining brightly. The lake was frozen as far as I could see, but by noon there was a big open space away out by the narrows. It warmed up all day and reached zero by evening, and a stiff southwest wind came up during the night. By Saturday morning the lake was clear again, except for in front of the beach and in the marina. Last night and this morning, the temperature was at zero or a bit higher; there was a strong north wind, and whitecaps on the lake. The sun shone brightly all day, and there isn’t much snow left.

ice
It snowed lightly all day on Monday. Doreen came home from Saskatoon and said there was snow, slush and ice in Saskatoon, mud in Wakaw, then nothing until this side of Bjorkdale. We went to Tisdale on Thursday, and there was no snow at all once we got close to Bjorkdale. We did notice the Red Deer River was frozen over; when we got back to the Park, it looked as if there might be ice farther out on the lake, and definitely some crumbled ice near the shore.

Cove
The snow wasn’t enough to cause much in the way of problems moving the building into place at the Cove, except for getting down the necks of the workers. They worked at it very slowly and steadily and had it in place by Wednesday night. It was nice to watch them work — no screaming or swearing, and they seemed to work well together.

thermal
stress
Living down here at the lake, we are looking forward to hearing the ice sing. Ideal conditions for that is when there are two or more layers of ice, little snow, and very cold. The cold causes thermal stress as the ice expands, sending cracks across the lake with a “Zinging” sound. If there is too much snow, of course, the sound is muffled.

ice
singing
One November day, years ago, Doreen and I were walking on the ice, watching a muskrat gathering weeds under the ice. We were quite startled when a crack formed under our feet; then we realized the crack only went through one layer of ice, and it looked as if there were at least three. That year, the kids skated all over the lake. Jenny had a little tape recorder; we started it and laid it on the ice, and recorded the ice singing.

Bjorkdale
We had fun Friday night — Jenny and Gerald picked us up and took us to Bjorkdale for the dinner theater. We had a great meal, lots of quality visiting, and thoroughly enjoyed the stage presentation, a wacky story about buried treasure, Hollywood hacks, gangsters, and space cadets, all centered around a seedy desert hotel. Lots of fun for the audience and the cast. They had already given one performance for the school kids, and had a Saturday dinner theater and a Sunday matinee theater to go. Maureen Smith (Space Cadet First Class) told me they could have sold a couple more tickets for Friday, but that Saturday sold out before the tickets had been on sale a half hour.

Minneapolis
Doreen and two friends spent three days in Minneapolis, attending a rubber stamping convention. They flew from Saskatoon, not without some trepidation, though they would never admit it. It took them a bit longer to go through security, and there were several armed soldiers in fatigues patrolling the airport in Minneapolis, but otherwise all was normal.

Doreen & Jerry Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg


The Greenwater Report for October 29, 2001
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, October 29, 2001 - by: Jerry Crawford

Perigord	October 28th, 2001: We just got home from the Fall Supper at Perigord. As usual, the meal was sumptuous, the timing perfect, and the company congenial. Father LaCasse didn’t even suggest that I was just about ready for market! I say the timing was perfect because we got there just as the first wave of diners was leaving. By the time we were seated, the lineup was over, and we were able to sit and visit as long as we wished.

weather	The forecasters were right — they told us the temperature would reach the double digits by the weekend, and sure enough, Friday morning it was —16°! Not really too bad, though. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the sun was shining brightly. The lake was frozen as far as I could see, but by noon there was a big open space away out by the narrows. It warmed up all day and reached zero by evening, and a stiff southwest wind came up during the night. By Saturday morning the lake was clear again, except for in front of the beach and in the marina. Last night and this morning, the temperature was at zero or a bit higher; there was a strong north wind, and whitecaps on the lake. The sun shone brightly all day, and there isn’t much snow left.

ice	It snowed lightly all day on Monday. Doreen came home from Saskatoon and said there was snow, slush and ice in Saskatoon, mud in Wakaw, then nothing until this side of Bjorkdale. We went to Tisdale on Thursday, and there was no snow at all once we got close to Bjorkdale. We did notice the Red Deer River was frozen over; when we got back to the Park, it looked as if there might be ice farther out on the lake, and definitely some crumbled ice near the shore.



Cove	The snow wasn’t enough to cause much in the way of problems moving the building into place at the Cove, except for getting down the necks of the workers. They worked at it very slowly and steadily and had it in place by Wednesday night. It was nice to watch them work — no screaming or swearing, and they seemed to work well together.

thermal stress	Living down here at the lake, we are looking forward to hearing the ice sing. Ideal conditions for that is when there are two or more layers of ice, little snow, and very cold. The cold causes thermal stress as the ice expands, sending cracks across the lake with a “Zinging” sound. If there is too much snow, of course, the sound is muffled.

ice singing	One November day, years ago, Doreen and I were walking on the ice, watching a muskrat gathering weeds under the ice. We were quite startled when a crack formed under our feet; then we realized the crack only went through one layer of ice, and it looked as if there were at least three. That year, the kids skated all over the lake. Jenny had a little tape recorder; we started it and laid it on the ice, and recorded the ice singing.

Bjorkdale	We had fun Friday night — Jenny and Gerald picked us up and took us to Bjorkdale for the dinner theater. We had a great meal, lots of quality visiting, and thoroughly enjoyed the stage presentation, a wacky story about buried treasure, Hollywood hacks, gangsters, and space cadets, all centered around a seedy desert hotel. Lots of fun for the audience and the cast. They had already given one performance for the school kids, and had a Saturday dinner theater and a Sunday matinee theater to go. Maureen Smith (Space Cadet First Class) told me they could have sold a couple more tickets for Friday, but that Saturday sold out before the tickets had been on sale a half hour.

Minneapolis	Doreen and two friends spent three days in Minneapolis, attending a rubber stamping convention. They flew from Saskatoon, not without some trepidation, though they would never admit it. It took them a bit longer to go through security, and there were several armed soldiers in fatigues patrolling the airport in Minneapolis, but otherwise all was normal.

	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg